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(11/08/1995) - Defenders of Wildlife announced today it will award up to
$5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who
killed a young female wolf pup in west-central Montana near the town of Deer
Lodge.

Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife, said
today that, "This wolf killing was cowardly and without justification. The
killer's target was a mere pup, it was not near any livestock, and its almost
solid black coat would preclude anyone mistaking it for a coyote. Whoever shot
this wolf killed an endangered species, and should be tried as a criminal."

The Defenders' reward will be added to a $1,000 reward that has
been offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). FWS enforcement
officials credited an earlier Defenders' reward in helping to produce evidence
in the case in which Chad McKittrick of Red Lodge, Montana, was convicted of
shooting one of the wolves released in Yellowstone Park earlier this year.
Anyone with information about the recent killing should contact the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service at (406) 329-3000.

This wolf pup, a member of the "Boulder pack," was shot in
west- central Montana and was not part of the recent reintroduction in
Yellowstone or central Idaho. This endangered wolf was one of three pups that
recently had been relocated after adult members of the pack killed three calves
near Lockhart meadows. All of the pack's adult wolves, with the exception of the
alpha female, were removed to Glacier National Park. FWS biologists had just
released the pups to rejoin their mother in the meadow.

Robert Ferris, Director of Defenders of Wildlife's Species
Conservation Division, said, "The killing of the pup was as ironic as it was
unnecessary. Defenders had just finished reimbursing the ranchers who lost the
calves and the FWS had just relocated the wolves which had preyed on the
cattle." Defenders noted that the pups and their mother likely will return to a
strictly wild diet.

According to Hank Fischer, Defenders Northern Rockies
Representative, "Defenders of Wildlife has met the critics of wolf recovery more
than half way. We have supported the immediate control of wolves that kill
livestock, and we have created a $100,000 Wolf Compensation Fund that pays
ranchers for all verified livestock losses to wolves. In return, we expect that
people will not kill wolves that aren't causing problems. Wolves and humans can
coexist, but it requires tolerance and a respect for the law. We believe people
who break that public trust should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law."

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Contact(s):

Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270

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Coexistence is the order of the day in Oregon, thanks to months of discussions among Defenders of Wildlife, Oregon wildlife officials, the governor’s office and the ranching community. A livestock compensation and wolf coexistence bill unanimously passed the state House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. John Kitzhaber in August.